dealing with party guest

[djxsquizet]

yea cause right now all I am doing is house parties because I live in a college town.

But I will be sure to use this advice.

yea 2 house parties ago I had this dude who got shit-faced for the first time and spill tequila on my laptop and midi controller. (mind you i used to have bad anger problems before I started Muay Thai) Lets say I almost went back to my old self just trained in kickboxing now lol.

But I dried everything off and everything worked just fine so I didn't hurt him.

[lofi]

wow flash backs. back in the day it was pretty bad for me too. i wish people would realize that headphones on means,"i can't hear you".they talk anyways... damaged gear sucks, i got whoever from whatever party i played to give me a security guy from that point on. plus a sign that says no requests works too if you don't want to take them.

[darrel855]

I give the girls what they want for the most part unless it's a completely underground party because basicly if the girls are happy and dancing everyone at the party is dancing and having fun . Now guys makin requests is something else I better see some cash or hear how I'll get them laid if I play Lollipop for their girl .

[midian]

something which i've seen which is good is a sign that says 'txt requests to #' - that way people get to make requests but u dont have to pay attention, but people feel like they get some input without it being distracting.

in general i'd say only play it if its a track you wanna play anyway. as for playing tracks the chicks want to hear... well maybe, but generally girls want shit music (from my experience), the winner is playing Pop remixes, keeps girls happy without teh shit tunes.

[DvlsAdvct]

Also, don't hesitate to compromise. If they request a crappy song by an artist you like, or something that doesn't fit, make a suggestion and see what they say. Could make it a bit easier

[whiskers]

Last time I brought a legal pad to a gig and let people write on it. Nobody bothered me much, people wrote down a lot of shit tunes and tunes that don't exist (Tiesto doesn't have a tune called "Lemon Tree", does he?), most of them I didn't have anyway, the couple that I was requested before the gig I did play (and they fit with the set), most of the rest I didn't. Nobody seemed upset. Usually I tell people right away if I don't have it, or just cross it out.

If you haven't been at a point in your DJ career where you're throwing down a house/trance/techno set and people are going nuts and then someone comes up and asks for some Kanye West / hip hop / R&B, you'll run into it and not once

[Chilly]

If you don't want to do the money thing, then do this one:

"NO HABLAS ENGLAIS"

I have no clue if that's right, buuuut i'm pretty sure you get my drift.



House parties, for the most part, are a great way for the beginning dj to start getting comfortable playing for a crowd of people. I would generalize that most house parties are not well paying gigs (yes, I'm sure that there ARE many parties that have paid you well in the past). Depending on the situation of the party (for instance....just some random party a friend is having where you don't know anyone there) I wouldn't care whether or not I had a 'name' after that night.

If someone is bugging the piss out of you, let them know it, or bug the piss out of them back. If everyone else is having a great time except for that one guest...man who cares? Go on brush your shoulders off...u did a great a job.


....And ask for money!! lol

[Fatlimey]

If you don't want to do the money thing, then do this one:
"NO HABLAS ENGLAIS"

Or, if you're doing a Techno set: "Sprechen zie Deutsche? Yah, Ubercoolische!"

[djalexlaine]

the notepad idea is a great one, i have had that thought myself. leave a column for a response from you, that way you can write in stuff like, dont have or whatever. tip jars are good too.
when youre doing a house party, it is best to make sure you have a buffer between you and the people. sometimes you have to improvise on that, but it will keep you sane and your gear from getting destroyed.

[steveboyett]

If it's a track I don't want to play, I tell him I already played it and I'm sorry he missed it. If it's lightyears from what I'm playing (he wants gangsta rap and I'm laying down prog house), I just ask him to listen to what I'm playing and picture how much the room will change if I slap over to that. Usually it works, sometimes they get annoyed. Oh, well.

If you're being paid to play a party and you don't want to play the track, sometimes it works to tell the guy to ask the host. "If the guy running this joint tells me to do it, I'll try to do what he wants, but right now I'm playing what he asked me to and he's the one with the cashish." Step 2 is: "Tell you what, when I play your party I'll drop this crap all night long."

I generally hate playing parties for exactly this reason -- people who don't get it (no shortage of those) think you're some kind of meat jukebox. I've pretty much decided not to do parties unless they're for friends, or it's clear I'm gonna do what I do and there ya go.